A fish supper and a chippy smile : love, hardship and laughter in a South East London fish-and-chip shop /

Kemp, Hilda,

A fish supper and a chippy smile : love, hardship and laughter in a South East London fish-and-chip shop / Hilda Kemp, Cathryn Kemp. - 304 pages ; 20 cm

In 1950s and 60s Bermondsey, the fish-and-chip shop was at the centre of the community. And at the heart of the chippy itself was 'Hooray' Hilda Kemp, a spirited matriarch who dispensed fish suppers and an abundance of sympathy to a now-vanished world of East Enders. For 'Hooray' Hilda knew all to well what it was like to feel real, aching hunger. Growing up in the slums of 1920s south-east London, the daughter of a violent alcoholic who drank away his wages rather than put food on the table, she could spot when a customer was in need and would sneak them an extra big portion of chips, on the house. With a cast of colourful characters - dirty ragamuffins, struggling housewives, rough-diamond gang members - Hilda's story is one of grit, romance, nostalgia and British endurance.

9781409158424 (pbk.) : 6.99


Kemp, Hilda.


Fast food restaurants--History--England--London--20th century.
History.
History.


Bermondsey (London, England)--Social conditions--20th century.
Bermondsey (London, England)--History--20th century.

DA685.S7

942.1 KEM